Coin-holder or change-maker.



No. 777.378. PATENTED DEC. 13, 1904. J. W. JONES.

COIN HOLDER 0R CHANGE MAKER.

APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 4, 1904.

no MODEL.

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Patented December 13, 1904:.

UNTTED STATES PATENT OEEIcE.

JOSHUA W. JONES, OF HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

COIN-HOLDEN OR CHANGE-MAKER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 777,378, dated December13, 1904. Application filed June 4:, 1904:. Serial No. 211,207. (Nomodel.)

To all whom, it nuty concern:

Be it known that I, J OSHUA W. Jones, a citizen of the United States,residing at Harrisburg, in the county of Dauphin and State ofPennsylvania, have invented. certain new and useful Improvements in.(Join-l lolders or Change-Makers; and I do hereby declare the followingto be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings,forming a part of this specification,and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

This invention relates to improvements in that class of devicesordinarily used by car conductors and others for holding coins ofdifferent denominations in such manner that said coins may be readilyremoved one at a time to facilitate the making of change in return forcoins of larger denomination.

The invention has for its object to improve and simplify theconstruction of such devices whereby not only is the retention of thecoins more secure and certain and their delivery into the hands of theuser facilitated, but the manufacture of the devices is greatlysimplified and cheapened, holders of a given size being adapted for thereception of coins of various denominations, whereby the necessity ofproviding holders for coins of each denomination is avoided.

The invention consists in certain novel details of construction,combinations, and arrangements of parts, all as will be now described,and pointed out particularlyin the appended claims.

Figure 1 is an elevation of a series of holders adapted for holdingquarters, nickcls, and dimes. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the same.Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of one of the holders. Fig. 4 is aperspective view looking at the inner side of the bottom of one of theholders, the cylindrical wall being broken away to disclose the workingparts. Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing the supporting devices forthe holder.

Like letters of reference in the several ligures indicate the sameparts.

The body A of the holder is preferably of cylindrical form adapted to bearranged vertically and to be attached either to a belt or to thegarments of the user by means which will be presently described. A slotfor the entry of coins is provided near the top of the holder, such slotbeing preferably immediately beneath one side of the projecting guidingedge of the top piece B, one end of said slot being preferably formed bya springpressed wall B, which will normally occupy a position which willreduce the length of the slot suiliciently to prevent the passage of acoin until said wall is pressed back, as will be the case when a coin isforced into the slot. By varying the dimensions of the slot the holdermay be adapted for holding coins of different size or value and willserve as a gage for preventing the user from placing coins of a highervalue in the holder intended for the reception of coins of lower valueonly. The lower end of the holder is closed by a fiat bottom piece U,the wall of the cylindrical portion, preferably at the front, beingremoved or slotted immediately above the bottom piece to provide anexit-apertu re D, through which the coin resting on the bottom may bedischarged transversely.

In order to permit of the discharge of the coins in succession andsingly without req uiring undue care on the part of the user andregardless of whether the users hands he incased in gloves or not. acombined pusher and retaining device is provided having a lingerpicce orprojection lying below the bottom piece U and directly under the coinbeing discharged. .lt moves in an arc of a circle parallel with theplane of movement of the coin. in its exit from the holder. Saidlinger-piece preferably moves out from beneath or beyond the bottompiece in unison with the coin, which moves out from the upper side ofthe bottom piece. Thus the linger and thumb of the user are in positionto grasp both the coin and finger-piece, and the coin is left inposition between the thumb and linger of the user when the linger-pieceis released and returned to its normal position.

The combined retainer and pusher is preferably in the form of a memberE, pivotally mounted on the bottom (1 at a point in proximity to one endof the dischargeslot, said member E having an upwardly-extendingretaining-finger e, which normally bridges the discharge-slot, as shownclearly in Fig. 1, so as to prevent the accidental escape of coinstherethrough. Said piece E is further provided with anupwardly-extending pusher or projection F, working in a segmental slotin the bottom piece C and projecting a suflicient distance above saidbottom piece to engage the bottom coin in the holder, whereby when themember E is turned on its pivotal center the retaining-finger will bemoved back away from the slot, and the pusher engaging the rear edge ofthe coin will force the latter upwardly and out of the slot a distancesufiiciently great to permit of its being readily grasped by the thumband finger, but an insuificient distance to completelydischarge the coinfrom the holder. In case the coin be not grasped by the user before therelease of the member E the coin will be returned to its position Withinthe holder by the retainingfinger, it being understood, of course, thatthe said member E is a spring-pressed member and normally tends to standin the position shownin Fig. 1. For convenience aspring G may be coiledon the pivot g, one end of said spring being attached to the pivot andthe opposite end made to bear against the member E, as shown clearly inFig. 3. The finger-piece H on the member E preferably lies close to andbelow the bottom G of the device in such position as to be convenientlyengaged by the finger of the user and drawn forwardly to discharge acoin, said fingerpiece moving out from beneath the bottom of the holderin unison with the coin and at a point immediately below the coin, asshown by the dotted lines in Fig. 3. Obviously the finger-piece need notmove entirely out from beneath the holder, inasmuch as the finger of theuser will naturally extend in front of the finger-piece directly belowthe discharge-slot; but in the preferred construction it moves beyondthe bottom of the holder when brought forward to discharge a coin,inasmuch as this .afiords a greater convenience and certainty to theoperation of discharging and grasping a coin. The construction describedpermits the device to be used when the users hands are protected bygloves, and the necessity for baring the hands or ends of the fingers isavoided.

The pusher or projection, which engages the rear edge of the coin,preferably moves back into a recess in the wall of the holder, wherebythe entire smooth cylindrical inner surface of the holder is unbrokenand the danger of coins lodging or hanging in the holder so as toprevent their discharge is obviated.

With this construction of holding and discharging mechanism it is foundthat the same size holder may be successfully employed for coins ofvarious denominations, and hence the manufacturer may make all of theholders of practically uniform size, although it will or dinarily befound most desirable to make the holders of two sizes, one for quartersand nickels and the other for dimes and cents. Should it be desired toprevent the entry of coins of other denominations, the entranceslot maybe easily and cheaply made of such dimensions as to permit only theentry of the desired coins.

In order to enable the user to determine at a glance just the totalvalue of the coins contained in the holder, the wall of the holder isprovided with a series of diagonal slots, the lower end of one slotreaching to the upper end of the next slot, thus providing openingsthrough which all of the coins may be seen, and by proper numerals atthe end of each slot the total value of the coins in the holder isindicated in such manner that the user is not liable to make an error inhis computation. Where the same holders are used for coins of one oranother denomination,two series of slots may be provided, one indicatingthe total value of coins of one denomination and the other indicatingthe total value of coins of the other denomination. Each of theslots,while relatively large and permitting the coins to be clearly seenmay be made of such dimension that no coin can escape therethrough.

For convenience in attaching the holders to a belt and for assembling aseries of holders in one structure each holder is provided on the rearside with two curved wings I, having slots z' therein for the passage ofthe belt. The curved wings I are preferably formed with a uniformcurvature and of a uniform size on all of the holders, whereby when thewing on one side of one holder overlaps or is placed against the wing onthe opposite side of the other holder the slots in the wing willregister and a belt may be passed through said registering slots,therebyeffectually connecting the two holders together and at the same timeholding them securely and firmly on the belt. Where a belt is notemployed, the wings referred to will serve as a bearingsurface forresting against the clothing of the user, and the holder may be attachedto said clothing by a pin K or equivalent fastening device locatedbetween the wings. This arrangement permits of the use of one, two, ormore holders, as desired, and the conductor is only required to carryholders for coins of such denominations as he desires to handle With adevice of this kind, and at the same time he may increase the capacityby adding other holders to his equipment should occasion require it.

By making up the holders separately in the manner described themanufacturers dies and equipment necessary for the manufacture of thedevice is greatly simplified and the cost of manufacture correspondinglyreduced.

Having thus described my invention, what ll claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. A coin-holder comprising a cylindrical casing having a slot at theupper end for the admission of coins and a slot at the bottom for thedischarge of coins, and a combined retainer and discharger pivotallymounted on the casing and having a finger-piece below the casing adaptedto move parallel with and beneath the coin during its discharge;substantially as described.

2. In a coin-holder the combination with a cylindrical casing having aslot at the upper end for the admission of coins said slot beingpartially overlapped by a spring and having a projecting top forming aguide and a slot at the bottom for the discharge of coins, of a combinedretainer and pusher pivotally mounted on the casing and havingupwardly-extending coin discharging and retaining projections and afinger-piece located below the bottom of the casing, said finger-piecebeing located directly under the coin being discharged and adapted tomove in a plane parallel with and. in the same direction therewith,whereby the coin is discharged onto the finger which engages thefinger-piece; substantially as described.

3. In a coinholder,the combination with the cylindrical casing having aslot for the entry of coins at the top, a flat bottom and acoin-discharge slot on the upper side of said bottom, of a combinedretainer and pusher pivotally mounted on the bottom at one end of thedischarge-slot, said retainer and pusher having a finger for bridgingthe slot when in normal position, a projection for engaging the rearedge of the bottom coin and a lingerpiece located directly beneath saidbottom and adapted to move in the same direction and parallel with thecoin being discharged and a spring for returning said retainer andpusher to normal position; substantially as described.

4. In a coin-holder, the combination with the casing having the coinentrance and discharge slots, of oppositely-extending wings secured tosaid casing and having slots therein for the passage of a belt to unitethe wings of adjacent holders; substantially as described.

5. The combination with a plurality of coin holders having oppositelyprojecting wings, the wings of adjacent holders being adapted tooverlap, of means for connecting the overlapping wings whereby theholders may be assembled in one structure; substantially as described.

6. A device such as described embodying a plurality of coin-holdershaving oppositelyprojecting curved wings, the wings of adjacent holdersbeing adapted to overlap and provided with registering slots for thepassage of a belt to unite the wings of adjacent holders, whereby theholders may be assembled in one structure; substantially as described.

7. A device such as described embodying a coin holder having oppositelyprojecting wings adapted to form a base and an attaching-pin locatedbetween the wings; substantially as described.

JOSHUA WV. JONES.

Witnesses:

WM. C. ARMoR, MARY E. HAUER.

